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Good luck. I moved to the NW 15 years ago and the water ice scene here makes me nervous. The weather is too variable. There's a few places like the Columbia River Gorge or Banks Lake that are ok when it gets cold enough, but nothing like the interior. Others will likely have some suggestions for some hidden gems in the peaks. My opinion is that it's pretty mankey compared to New England water ice.

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Coming from Colorado, you may be used to being able to drive up some canyon, get out of the car, and hop on some user-friendly ice. You won't be able to do this any where near Darrington except in a rare cold snap, but if you are willing to climb a mountain to find some water ice, there are all kinds of cool climbs near Darrington. Otherwise, you will have to drive three or four hours to the passes, where there are some mediocre climbs that are "in" much of the winter, or to Eastern Washington or BC (more driving).

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There's always Ouray. There was a 150' or so WI2 flow with about 60' of steeper ice capped by a short vertical step about 15 minutes from my house in Colorado Springs. Used to hit that before work about once a week. Mount The flows at Mt. Lincoln are already in and they'll be there until June.....sigh....

There's got to be more ice out here than the stuff at Banks Lake and the one or two %#$ing flows at Alpental - but no one's talking. Hopefully this situation will improve when the guidebook comes out or invents a teleporter to Lilloet.

[ 11-01-2002, 11:05 AM: Message edited by: JayB ]

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There's got to be more ice out here than the stuff at Banks Lake and the one or two %#$ing flows at Alpental - but no one's talking. Hopefully this situation will improve when the guidebook comes out or invents a teleporter to Lilloet.

The problem is, Jay, there really isn't much more than that -- if you are looking for roadside stuff. You can hunt down the odd flow at Mount Rainier or wherever, and there are some low elevation flows that form up occasionally, but I'd be investing in that teleporter technology if I were you.

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The problem is, Jay, there really isn't much more than that -- if you are looking for roadside stuff. You can hunt down the odd flow at Mount Rainier or wherever, and there are some low elevation flows that form up occasionally, but I'd be investing in that teleporter technology if I were you.

What about non-roadside stuff, e.g. requiring several hours of skiing and/or an overnight stay. Suffering for several hours in order to get on some uncrowded stuff is totally worth it, IMO. Surely you've come across some stuff with all of the skiing you've done.

What about unreliable lines that might be in during a cold snap? Most of the climbing in CO is more thoroughly documented than most other states anyway, but it seems like one can find info on B.C. lines, stuff that forms once a decade, etc. much more easily than one can find similar information out here. I think that'll change once Alex and Co. get their book out, but as things stand now the lack of info is pretty lame.

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What about non-roadside stuff, e.g. requiring several hours of skiing and/or an overnight stay. Suffering for several hours in order to get on some uncrowded stuff is totally worth it, IMO. Surely you've come across some stuff with all of the skiing you've done.

I'm not sure what you're looking for but yes I have seen frozen waterfalls all over the place. Nothing really comes to mind as being the hidden gem that you might be after, though, but maybe that big pillar on the back side of Three Fingers, or that beauty that SayJay climbed up at the Scottish Lakes last year, or that thing up above the Nisually Glacier or ...

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I'm not sure what you're looking for but yes I have seen frozen waterfalls all over the place. Nothing really comes to mind as being the hidden gem that you might be after, though, but maybe that big pillar on the back side of Three Fingers, or that beauty that SayJay climbed up at the Scottish Lakes last year, or that thing up above the Nisually Glacier or ...

Mattp es El Diablo....

Taunt me with tales of hidden gems if you wish, my effortlessly cool tormentor...but if they're out there I'll find them, compadre. Ooooooohhhh yes, I'll find them, take the GPS coordinates and blather about them all over the net until they're festooned with topropes and hacked into oblivion. Bwahhahahahahhaaahhaha